How to Join the Metaverse is not a good question. Because there are many. Stay tuned to know about some top ones with the ways to get in.
Metaverse has become the buzzword among many.
For those who don’t know, Metaverse is a virtual world to meet, play, enjoy, purchase, or basically do whatever we do in this real world.
The only difference is the experience.
Metaverse companies like Microsoft are trying to mimic real-world sensations, but there is a limit to duplicity.
And that’s fairly evident if you dive into a metaverse without a virtual reality (VR) headset like the HTC Vive. As the feeling won’t be immersive, and it’s more like playing a generic game on your desktop PC.
However, due to the obvious downsides of virtual reality, augmented reality (AR) is seen as the better alternative. AR will enhance our present with the metaverse so that we enjoy both while missing none, even if that means missing on the immersive element.
But that’s a story for some other time.
Coming back to the crux of this article: how to join the metaverse?
See, it’s fairly simple if you know which metaverse to join and have the necessary tools to participate. For example, you can join Decentraland with your desktop web browser, whereas others like Horizon World need an Oculus Quest.
So, let’s list down some popular metaverses with the available ways to join them.
Decentraland
Currently, Decentraland is a desktop-browser-only 3D virtual world. You can access this metaverse with Chrome or Firefox on a PC or Mac.
Decentraland is about meeting new people, attending live shows, casual hangouts, purchasing digital land, and much more.
You can check out the Decentraland public event calendar for what’s about to happen:
While you may run it on other devices or OSes, the experience may be less than optimum, as per their support. For the time being, this isn’t available for mobile devices or with any VR headset.
Horizon Worlds
In contrast, you can join Horizon Worlds with only Oculus devices.
This is the perfect example of a metaverse, a seemingly virtual land to create, enjoy, and live. A lot is on the promise in this Facebook’s (now Meta) virtual reality world.
This is where you can befriend other people, create infrastructure, party, and hang out to places built by other Horizon Worlds citizens.
Let’s check how it looks in real life with this Youtuber’s personal experience:
So, not as fancy as the company video looks, but still something. And it would be wrong to expect extraordinary as these projects are very early in development.
Somnium Space
This walks one the lines of Decentraland and Horizon Worlds. But Somnium Space has an edge over the two as this is both VR and desktop-friendly.
Conceptually, all metaverses are the same, including the Somnium Space.
Creators can purchase land, build experiences, and monetize them. Similarly, real-world brands can open virtual outlets in Somnium Space to advertise, connect and sell to the metaverse people.
This is Somnium Space map showing the current landscape:
If you zoom in and hover any structure, it will show you the price:
So, as of this writing, this blue-colored metaverse skyscraper (#3983) was worth USD 47,000.
All these metaverse items are held as non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Somnium Space has a marketplace of such items on Opensea.
For instance, there was one such land parcel available for sale:
Similarly, you will find tons of things created and listed for sale on Opensea.
You can join the Somnium Space metaverse on Windows PC, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, & Steam.
Others
There are plenty more like TCG world, Wilder World, The Sandbox, Axie Infinity.
But, you get it. All push for purchases within their ecosystem. Straightway, these are investments. You purchase them as NFTs, hold, and sell them a few years later for a nice profit if that metaverse project continues doing well. Or monetize them with elements best known to you.
Otherwise, that money goes down the drain.
(Why) How to Join the Metaverse?
I personally share the views of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella that metaverse is not very different from games.
Brands may be right to invest as they want to connect with the people to sell their REAL things in exchange for REAL money.
And an investor (or artist) may also prove profitable in the end.
But a commoner has little incentive (or spare time) to socialize in a virtual world. Guess we have this real-world to do so or social networks like Facebook or Twitter.
Regardless, the metaverse shrinks boundaries.
But ultimately, it’s up to you to decide if it holds any value for yourself!
